Diet: Omnivore. Termites and ants are their preferred food. An aardvark can reportedly eat 50,000 termites in one meal.

Average life span in captivity: 23 years.

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Length: Head and body, up to 4-1/2 feet. Tail, up to 2 feet.

Weight: 110-180 pounds.

Birth: Female aardvarks typically give birth to one offspring per year. Aardvarks are born frail, hairless and wrinkled and spend several months in their mother’s burrow before they’re big enough to follow her on nightly feeding excursions.

Now you know: Aardvarks are the only surviving member of the species Tubulidentata. Afrikaans named them “earth pig” and they are sometimes called “Cape anteater,” but although they have a pig-like body and long tongues, aardvarks are neither closely related to pigs nor anteaters. Aardvarks are burrowing animals and their abandoned burrows provide shelter for many other species. Aardvarks’ shovel-like toe nails make them great diggers. They can reportedly dig two feet in 15 seconds. They can close their nostrils while digging, to keep out dirt and insects. They also are protected from insect bites by tough, thick skin. An aardvark’s sticky tongue can be a foot long and is used to extract termites from earthen mounds. They have a unique dental structure, and their teeth lack enamel. The teeth wear down and then regrow. Aardvarks are nocturnal and don’t see well, but have a keen sense of smell.

Protection status: Not endangered in the wild. They are very rare in captivity. The Detroit Zoo, one of the few zoos with an aardvark habitat, is home to three aardvarks, but the captive population is less than 30 individuals.